KJZZ’s Friday NewsCap revisits some of the week’s biggest stories from Arizona and beyond.

The Show talks with High Ground’s Doug Cole and Consilium about the state Republican Party’s absence from an election night party, the fight over whether to release the list of names of voters affected by the MVD glitch, and more. We interviewed Mr. Sam Richard of Consulting.

conversation highlights

Arizona Republican Party cancels election night party

Mark Brody: Doug, you’re going to have to make different plans for election night this year, right?

Doug Cole: Yes, I was really looking forward to the balloon drop and celebration. These parties have been part of the history of the Arizona Republican Party since I got involved in politics in the ’80s, but let me just say right now, there hasn’t been much to celebrate. So it’s understandable why they don’t want to cancel this year’s celebrations.

Last cycle, our former party chair, Kerry Ward, was widely criticized for his lavish spending on the party. To be honest, this party has no money. So I think it was a really logical choice and the money should have been put into the race.

Brody: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that, and that’s what new Speaker Gina Swoboda is talking about, is that she’s going to put money into the campaign so that there’s actually something to celebrate. It sounds like you think that’s not necessarily the wrong choice.

call: No, that’s the right choice, especially after what happened under Kerry Ward’s party leadership. It would be good for them to take a break and use the little resources they have to make some really close congressional races and some really close county races an advantage. I think so.

Brody: So Sam, Democrats are having a party on election night, right? Do you think Democrats should spend more money on actual campaigns to have more to celebrate on election night?

Sam Richard: Well, as anyone with television within a 50-mile radius would know, it wasn’t all that difficult to raise money for a well-organized and battle-ready party. It was ahead of them. And you’re seeing it actually happening and expressing it.

So I think Republicans think there’s not going to be much to celebrate on November 5th, and there’s going to be less reason to party. And the whole system is on the side of the Democrats.

And what I’m saying is, when it comes to raising large amounts of money, you can do both. We are doing the same thing: walking and chewing gum at the same time. We’ll be able to celebrate on the night of November 5th while knocking on millions of doors, making phone calls, sending text messages, and making sure we’re properly tracking our ballots. .

Brody: Do you ever get input on the menu at Democratic election night parties?

Richard: No, just enjoying the food and drinks.

call: water drink.

Richard: That’s correct.

Brody: Well, open bar or cash bar is always a big question, right?

On the fight to reveal names of voters affected by MVD registration glitch

Brody: Doug, I want to ask you about this fight over whether the voters on this list, 200-odd thousand voters, are allowed to vote in full without having to show proof of citizenship. Although required by state law, this is essentially due to a defect in the Department of Motor Vehicles.

There are groups that tend to be conservative. I’m trying to get the names of these voters. And Secretary of State Adrian Fontes says, “Of course, we can get it even if it’s not before the election.” There will be a hearing soon, and the judge is essentially telling Fontes, “Prove to me why they shouldn’t be released now.” He said he feared voter intimidation and that the group would use the list to pursue and harass voters into proving they were allowed to vote. I am concerned that this may be the case. Do you believe his claims?

call: Now, let’s start by making a backup. This has not happened in the last few months. These voters have been around since the ’90s, as far as I can tell, when the Motor Voter Act was implemented. So this is not a new situation. What’s new is that it came to light because someone noticed a coding error in the database.

Typically, these types of cases do not involve major changes to voting procedures or voting. It’s a cooling off period because we don’t want to weaponize this kind of thing.

Brody: Especially as we get closer to the election.

call: Exactly, exactly. In fact, there’s an ongoing lawsuit in Virginia with Gov. (Glenn) Youngkin that has some similarities to what’s going on here in Arizona, but not as many.

So there should be a pause before and after the election to make sure it’s not weaponized, and I think that’s what the Secretary of State is trying to accomplish here, because if it’s released anyway, it’s going to be weaponized afterwards. . But at the very least, we should try to get through the election without creating any controversy that will leave everyone scratching their heads.

Brody: Sam, what do you think? These are public records, at least in theory. Should the group be inaccessible?

Richard: To Doug’s point, I think this group and other groups allied with it have shown a tendency to weaponize that information. And I think Secretary Fontes will make a very successful effort in defending his decision not to make it public until after the election.

Brody: Do either of you consider this potentially? Do you think this could be weaponized in some way, Doug? For example, if these voters were to experience some form of harassment or otherwise Do you think you’re at risk of facing some problems that you wouldn’t otherwise experience? Especially since this isn’t what they did. This has nothing to do with anyone involved. They were doing what they were supposed to do, but it was a glitch elsewhere that caused this problem.

call: I agree with Sam. Eventually, this information will become public record and public registers will be published. And what happens after that is because the election is coming up. I think there will probably be a knock on the door, especially when the presidential election is really close like last time, with 10,000 votes and some swing votes. We are pursuing these people in a very long legal battle that will continue into the next presidential election.

So this is a loss all the way. It’s an unfortunate situation. It’s been going on for years, so we need to get it done. But I think the right thing to do right now is to pause for a moment, wait for the election to take place, and then start from there.

BRODIE: One of the things that’s particularly interesting about this, Sam, is that, as the state Republican Party has acknowledged, a significant number of these voters are registered Republicans.

Richard: absolutely. Yeah. And I think what this actually means is that if this becomes public record, there’s no guarantee at all that it’s all the voters that this group that was pushing this story is going after. So you can target it specifically. So I think that’s where the potential for weaponization and harassment increases even more.

Whose door will they knock on? Is it everyone on that list or a specific subset of that list?

call: That’s why Republicans initially worked with the Secretary of State when they were small in numbers, and once there they were on the same side. But historically, Republicans should be more Republican because they started in the 1990s and have had an overwhelming majority, even though they don’t currently. So, historically, it has to be more Republican on that list.

Richard: Just mathematically.

call: Just mathematically. right.

About Maricopa County Races

Brody: So, folks, this week we saw — and my colleague Wayne Schutzke was reporting on this earlier this week — Maricopa County record race breaks fundraising records.

Democrat Tim Stringham raised about $612,000 and Republican candidate Justin Heap about $353,000. This used to be a race that no one cared about at all. And now it has raised nearly $1 million.

Richard: (Former) Recorder (Helen) Purcell held the position for quite some time. Therefore, it did not attract any attention at the office. And once you get noticed, I think you can see that Arizona has generally matured as a politically astute place. So we see that similar numbers for all races are much higher than they have been in the past.

But I think this is an extraordinary increase. I think it comes down to how important this position is, especially given the balance at issue (Maricopa County Board of Supervisors).

call: That’s correct. And Sam points out that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has been 4-1 Republican for decades. And since the 1st and 3rd constituencies are vacant, depending on how those constituencies go, it could be 3-2 for Republicans and 3-2 for Democrats.

Yes, the board shares election responsibility with the recorder, so it gets a lot of attention. The commission then performs election day work by counting all the ballots, and recorders typically perform early voting and voter registration duties as part of the election process. So I’m not surprised. Stringham is really working hard. It’s his first time on the scene. He is a Navy veteran. Justin Heap currently serves in Congress and is a member of the Freedom Caucus group.

So there’s a real ideological difference between the two. And these are big funding numbers. You would never have seen that in Helen Purcell’s time.

Brody: Is it any surprise, especially for someone like Stringham – who, as you say, is a complete novice in politics, Doug – that he raised $600,000, twice as much as the incumbent?

call: right. Because just as Maricopa County continues to be a battleground state, Maricopa County is in the national spotlight. And yes, there is national attention on this race.

Brody: Before we go to break, I’m really curious, how do you both see this race going? Sam, what do you think?

Richard: I think all Democrats have an advantage in county voting because of the current global attitude and direction.

call: I agree with Sam. I’m not saying all Democrats are favored, but I think this is probably the most Democratic-looking year in county elections since the ’70s, the ’60s, and the ’70s. I don’t think it will be wiped out. But I think some amazing things happen on county land.